A few spots remain for the July 12 Pork Quality Assurance Plus Advisors recertification session in Ames, which is specifically for those who became certified during the initial training period in 2007-08.

With the registration deadline a week away, organizers of the Lauren Christian Pork Chop Open say a few team spots remain for the golf portion of the July 19 event. Anyone interested in attending the event needs to register by July 5.

Livestock producers and service providers can receive training on how to use the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation 2 (RUSLE2) and the Iowa Phosphorus Index for use in nutrient management and manure management plans at the July 26 workshop.

Iowa’s 17 and younger age group decreased according to 2010 census results. According to the Community Vitality Center report, “Population 18 and Older and 17 and Younger in Iowa’s Counties, 2000 – 2010,” Iowa’s youth population has decreased by 5,645 in the last decade.

Iowa’s unincorporated areas — the countryside outside any town or city limits — lost population according to the 2010 census, reversing a gain seen in the 2000 census, as detailed in the report “Countryside and Town: Population in Iowa’s Counties Within and Outside of Incorporated Places, 1990 – 2010."

More than 151,000 Iowans claimed Hispanic or Latino origin on the 2010 census questionnaire. This is the largest minority group in the state at 5 percent, as detailed in the Iowa State University Extension report “Race and Hispanic Origin in Iowa’s Counties, 1980-2010.”

Iowa Learning Farms and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship are hosting a bus tour of Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) wetlands in Kossuth County on Tuesday, June 28. The tour will include stops at two completed CREP wetland sites east of Algona.

College students and graduates who have had experiences with cooperatives see them as a way to gain valuable work experiences, scholarships and the means to addressing community needs. Student involvement in cooperatives is one aspect of the eXtension.org website containing educational materials about cooperatives.

The Fayette County Senior Dairy Quiz Bowl Team placed first in the annual 4-H Youth Dairy Quiz Bowl, held June 14 at the Starmont High School in Arlington. The team will represent Iowa 4-H at the National 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl in Louisville, Ky., in November. Teams from Delaware and Dubuque counties also placed in the event.

In communities across the country, people are working together through cooperatives to get the things they need – cooperatives bring people together to improve their quality of life and financial well-being.

Iowa farm women are sharing their experiences in central Africa, where 80 percent of the farming is done by women. This collaboration was developed by a farmer-to-farmer project through Iowa State University Extension with cooperation from a Ugandan nonprofit organization.

An estimated 1,800 gallons of water runs off a 30 x 96 foot high tunnel with each inch of rain. ISU Extension demonstrates a system to collect the rain water and store it for reuse on the crops in the high tunnel.

Landowners, tenants and other agri-business professionals with an interest in farmland ownership, management and leasing agreements should plan to attend one of more than 50 farmland leasing meetings scheduled for July and August. The workshops are facilitated by ISU Extension farm management specialists and held all across the state.

Many farm facilities use incandescent bulbs in a variety of settings, but the upcoming phase-out of incandescents among U.S. retailers demands consideration of energy efficient lighting alternatives. A new publication from Iowa State University Extension compares some of the indoor and outdoor lighting options and their features.